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Today on Animal Fact Files we’re discussing fennec foxes. These iconic canids have the largest ears in relation to body size of all dog-like carnivores. At their largest, a fennec fox's ears can reach six inches (15 cm) long, which is half as long as their tail! These mammals have a sandy colored coat which helps them blend in with their desert environment as well as reflect light from the sun. Some other adaptations these foxes have to stay cool in one of the hottest habitats on earth include fully furred paw pads which help provide traction and keep their soles from getting scorched. They can also pant at nearly 700 breaths a minute to help cool themselves in especially hot temperatures.

A fennec fox's ears serve multiple purposes. Their size helps dissipate heat, acting like giant radiators on their skull. They also help locate prey buried in the sand by picking up on their sounds below the Earth's surface. Fennec foxes spend most of the day resting in self-dug burrows. At night, when it's far cooler, they seek out meals such as eggs, small rodents, lizards, locusts, scorpions, and sand grouses. They also eat roots, leaves, and other plant material which helps they obtain moisture. In fact, a fennec fox can go indefinitely without water so long as they have enough access to moisture rich food.

Fennec foxes live throughout northern Africa as well as parts of the Sinai and Arabian peninsulas. They have a strong preference for habitats with some amount of vegetation as they not only use this for water but also den construction. It's not uncommon for a fennec fox to dig its burrow underneath a bush as the roots help provide structure and support to the den beneath. Fennec fox dens often have multiple entrances for safety and they can reach three feet (91 cm) deep. They're also used for raising kits.

While fennec foxes prefer to hunt alone, outside of this they live in family groups. These typically consist of a mating pair, their current litter, and older siblings from the previous year's litter to help with raising the newborns. These mammals most frequently produce a single litter of one to four kits per year, often between March and June. Like other foxes, when fennec foxes mate, they become tied together for a certain amount of time. In the case of the fennec fox, this can last more than two hours! The male of the pair becomes aggressive while his partner is pregnant and nursing, often marking their territory with urine and feces. Fascinatingly, fennec fox kidneys produce urine with very little water loss, which is just another desert adaptation for these clever vertebrates.

It takes about 50 days for a fennec fox to gestate, and the kits are born weighing less than two ounces (58 g). They're cared for by both their parents as well as their siblings, although for the first few weeks their mom won't let anyone near. Fennec foxes are most vulnerable during their early life and many perish before they reach maturity at about ten months old. Those that manage to survive can live up to a decade in the wild if they can avoid other threats. Being smaller than your average house cat, it's not unheard of for a fennec fox to get scooped up by a bird of prey such as an eagle owl. There's also speculation that they're eaten by jackals and striped hyenas. Fennec foxes are also impacted by humans who hunt them for their fur and the pet trade as well as encroach on their habitat.

Fennec foxes aren't only cat-like for their small size, these canids can also purr! What's more, they're not stinky like a lot of the fox relatives who can smell so strongly they're compared to the scent of a skunk. Although fennec foxes are well equipped to handle the scorching desert, they don't fare well in colder climates. In fact, if the temperature drops below 68 degrees (20°C), they'll start to shiver!

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